Calls for new world order based on ‘harmony-in-diversity’

International experts and university leaders acknowledged the urgency of revising current university education practices to meet ongoing changes in society and to boost the role of higher education in shaping national, regional and global agendas at a recent global conference held in Japan.

Delegates to the International Association of Universities (IAU) 2024 International Conference, held from 22-24 November in Tokyo under the theme “University Values in a Changing World”, argued that any transformation should be firmly rooted in the core values of academic freedom and inclusion.

The public commitment to academic freedom and inclusion comes as universities grapple with challenges arising from geopolitical tensions and those related to advances in information technology.



Universities in many countries also face very real financial risks arising out of budget cuts by newly elected conservative governments, tough market competition for private funding and student enrolment, and the rise of generative artificial intelligence tools leading to the potential erosion of ethical learning.

Higher education as a common good

Referring to the critical importance of universities’ responsibility to society, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford Simon Marginson said: “We have oversold higher education as an individual investment in economic advantage and social position, especially in the Anglosphere. We need to restore support for higher education as a driver of the common good.”

Marginson also highlighted the emergence of a multipolar world with the rise of Asia, especially China, which between 2021 and 2022 was the highest producer of top science publications internationally (with 64,138), followed by the United States (with 34,995), according to data provided by the Japanese government.

New science countries, said Marginson, also include Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Ethiopia and Pakistan, which have already collectively produced almost as much science as the old science countries. Science quality has also improved spectacularly in these countries.

Marginson said that multipolarity had triggered a defensive approach in parts of the West, as evidenced by the drop in shared papers between China and the United States – 47% in 2012, dropping to 32% in 2022.

To address these global changes, Marginson called for decisive moves towards “a world order based on harmony-in-diversity to counter the dangers of fragmentation and geopolitical conflict”.

The annual IAU conference, hosted by Sophia University, attracted more than 350 delegates, who included university heads, faculty and researchers representing 82 countries and higher education institutions.

Social trust

Yoshiaki Terumichi, the president of Sophia University, Japan’s oldest Catholic university, pointed to the commitment and leadership of his institution to fostering peace and sustainability in the world.

“These values are a critical contribution to nurturing social trust against the backdrop of ongoing wars and global tensions that have disrupted campuses,” he told the gathering.

He was echoed by IAU President Andrew Deeks, vice-chancellor of Murdoch University in Australia, who spoke about values as being “important beyond boundaries” and which could lead to “international connectedness to discover new perspectives”.

Such comments were made against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, rising populism and nationalism, ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, continuing tension between China and the West, and a concurrent erosion of trust in higher education.

In the United States, university leaders have come under pressure to control protests against the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, leading to forced resignations, student pushback against management, and threats of funding cuts from the private sector, according to Fanta Aw, executive director of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the largest and most comprehensive nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange.

“There is fear in universities from public backlash, a development that runs against the need for expression of open engagement. The implications of losing funding from powerful sources curbs academic freedom,” she told the conference.

Aw said the emergence of political populism and the curtailment of certain university activities that could upset authorities increasingly show up the hypocrisy of universities that claim to support autonomous research and integrity.

Indeed, the Tokyo delegates engaged in some deep soul-searching as academics explored how universities could uphold ethical values in a complex new environment defined by diverse missions.

Advancing collaborations and partnerships between universities was identified as one way to strengthen cross-disciplinary research and the introduction of subjects such as ethics and values in science and engineering education.

Traditional knowledge in Brazil

Sandra Almeida, president of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, shared the positive outcomes of an education programme established in 2021 that targets indigenous populations, with a focus on honouring traditional knowledge such as traditional agricultural methods.

Almeida said 40 indigenous people of diverse age groups, including women, had participated in the programme and many of the graduates had themselves become teachers. Important pillars in the curriculum include the granting of honorific titles to graduates and the conducting of classes in indigenous territory.

“We visit the indigenous sites on an exchange basis, an important step to bridge the gap with this sector. The message is equity,” she told University World News.

Marcelo Knobel, former rector and professor of physics at the University of Campinas in Brazil, noted that universities have an embarrassingly low social presence due to the lack of communication with society.

“One way of combatting the attacks on universities is to improve our communication with society,” he told delegates, adding that universities take for granted that society will defend them against threats to academic freedom.

“We have not passed these ideals to society,” he said, arguing for more communication by universities via social media and the collection of more data to build public support.

Brazil currently has nine million students enrolled in higher education, which is less than 20% of the 18-year-old population. Knobel also said there was low awareness among the local population about the contribution of universities to health despite their use of university hospitals.

Cross-border understanding

Eduard Mühle, president of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt Germany, highlighted the importance of returning valuable information to society. His university conducts specific regional exchange research to foster cross-border understanding between West and East Europe given its location on the border with Poland.

Mühle said some professors are “vulnerable to [being] attacked by right-wingers who march outside our university calling our research anti-state,” he said.

Still, for Mühle, the lesson was that academic freedom is not about individuals but engagement with the opposition for the social good, especially “against the reality of more civilians voting for the right”. He said university responsibility was concerned with educating students about values and maintaining open campuses.

Asian delegates highlighted threats to values from the students themselves.

“The target for the younger generation and their parents is a university education to gain highly paid jobs,” said Professor Sharifah Mohamad who teaches chemistry in the faculty of science at the University of Malaya.

Deliberations on internationalisation indicated that such trends were aided by university rankings and by the media.

In Japan, where over 90% of university graduates enter the job market, universities face government pressure to increase research on science and technology based on policies aimed at advancing universities in international rankings.

Japan ranks 13th for the number of high-profile papers, according to its Ministry of Education.

Despite such challenges, the importance of upholding values was widely recognised at the conference.

Vincent Ogutu, vice-chancellor of Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, said in an interview that his university emphasises ethics in its curricula.

“Educating students to work for social betterment fosters new generations aware of the preciousness of standing up for equal rights, critical for national development. In the process, universities that have taught them these life learning lessons can flourish against opposition,” he said.